After major offensive struggles in the previous season, Oklahoma City Thunder have turned to player development, rookies, and a new shooting coach for answers in 2022/23. The Thunder ended the last NBA season with an offensive rating of 104.6, just a slight improvement above the previous year.
Looking forward to this season, the rebuilding team looked to address some of the offensive issues via the draft, utilizing their three first-round picks to obtain Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and Ousmane Dieng.
Also, the Thunder’s focus for the 2022-23 season will be ensuring they stay afloat without Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant slipping off the playoff picture. Although things may seem uncertain at this juncture, one fact is that the Oklahoma City Thunder are keen on improving, and the fan base hopes to crack a playoff spot again this year. The team will feel the intensity to move things up a level from the two previous seasons, and this could lead to some attractive odds for those wanting to bet on NBA games, particularly if the team can find its stride early in the season.
The previous season was hair-raising for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They ended the campaign with a 24-58 win to loss ratio, which was the second-worst in the western conference.
Although 2021/22 was a season of rebuilding, there were some highs amongst the lows as the young players continued to improve, find their feet and gel as a squad.
The Thunder also needed to fire-fight to deal with a significant number of injuries as the season drew to a close, which resulted in them needing to play several G League players during the final weeks.
As the name suggests, the Thunder are based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and have been a professional NBA team since 2008. They were initially named the Seattle Supersonics and joined the NBA for the 1967/68 season as an expansion team. They relocated from Washington to Oklahoma in 2008 following a settlement of ownership.
The Oklahoma City Thunder qualified for their first playoff in Oklahoma City during the 2009-10 season. They followed this success by winning their division title as the Thunder in the 2010/11 season, and their first Western Conference championship as the Thunder in the 2011-12 season, appearing in the NBA finals for the fourth time in the team’s history and the first since 1996.
The Paycom Arena has served as the home for the City Thunder since 2008. The arena was formerly known as the Ford Center from 2002 to 2010, the Oklahoma City Arena until 2011, and the Chesapeake Energy Arena from 2011 to 2021. The Thunder have perhaps some of the best fans in the league, and their enthusiasm makes this arena one of the top NBA venues. Fans are usually attentive and loud, giving the hall an almost college-basketball feel. Also, those who work in the arena are regarded as being incredibly courteous and friendly.
The top Oklahoma City Thunder rivalries include Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs.
Each time Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies play, they do so to out-show themselves. Memphis and Oklahoma City are best friends that grew up together; because these two teams are up and coming, the energy during the game is impressive. Also, it is fun to watch young teams give effort on the defensive end.
The San Antonio Spurs are arguably the most respected team in the west. The Thunder and Spurs usually have intense games, despite the Spurs’ consistent approach in the regular season. The Spurs are precisely what the Thunder models themselves after, but around 10 years behind in terms of development.
